Bulgaria releases picture of Israeli tourist bomber

Bulgaria has released a picture of a man believed to be behind the murder of six people including five Israeli tourists in a bomb attack last month.

After the attack investigators recovered little more than bomber's limbs and headPhoto: REUTERS

By Matthew Day, Warsaw

2:55PM BST 01 Aug 2012

Investigators hope the computer-generated image of the young, dark-haired, European-looking man will help them find the identity of the bomber who carried out the attack in the Bulgarian town of Burgas on July 18.

"The badly damaged face of the bomber was reconstructed thanks to modern technology, supplied to Bulgaria by partner services," Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Bulgaria's interior minister, told journalists in the coastal town of Varna.

"The police did not release any earlier photos of the bomber, who was decapitated in the explosion, as they would have shocked the public," he added.

Galina Mileva, a pathologist who examined the attacker's remains, put his age at "between 25 and 30-something" and said the bomber had fair skin but could have been "of Arab origin." The interior ministry urged anyone who recognises the man to contact the police. Efforts to match the bomber's fingerprints and DNA with those on databases around the world have so far failed, and the investigation into who he was has unearthed little other than that he spoke good Russian, carried a forged US driving licence and had been in Bulgaria 20 days prior to the attack at Burgas airport.

Mr Tsvetanov also confirmed that the bomb which killed the five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver had been planted in the man's bulky rucksack. After the attack investigators recovered little more than bomber's limbs and head, indicating the explosives had been carried in a waist bag.

Bulgarian police are still hunting for at least two people believed to have been involved in the attack. The bomber spent some time with a mysterious woman in the days before the bombing, and investigators think that he had an accomplice with him during the attack.

Israel has accused of Iran orchestrating the blast through the Lebanese group Hizbollah. But the Iranian government has issued vehement denials, and so far no organisation has claimed responsibility.